it was 1979.

 a young man, working his way through college, was a cook at one of the well known cafes in Champaign. little did this young man know that the culinary skills he would learn at Greater Downtown Champaign Food and Beverage Company would be added to his repertoire of talents. this young man is my dad. my dad is a man of many talents. it was at the Greater Downtown Champaign Food and Beverage Co that he mastered the art of omelet making, (if you have ever tried making an omelet before, you will know it is an acquired art). i have many fond memories of watching my dad, in his iconic black sweats, on late weekend mornings make my siblings and i omelets. they quickly became a family favorite. whenever a sauder member of our household makes his or her way back home, omelet's are one of the desired requests. i give to you my dad's instructions of proper omelet making. below is short clip to view exactly how the omelet is to be made.


Omelet

Crack two eggs and whip them up. A lot of people put milk in their omelets, but what you want to do to get a fluffy omelet is to beat air into them and a little bit of cold water. Salt and pepper to taste. Heat and grease a small skillet. You have got to get your pan hot (medium-high heat). If you don't get it hot, you've got problems. You know when it's hot when you drop water on the skillet it and it sizzles. Keep in mind that second omelette will always turns out better than the first, kind of like pancakes. Pour your beaten eggs into the hot skillet. Swirl the egg so it goes up on to the sides of the pan and cooks on the sides of the pan. You want to build up ridges. By cooking the eggs on the sides of the pan you will be able to pull the sides back and then move the uncooked egg to the bottom. Pull the sides down with a spoon to create thicker edge. Lift up the bottom and let the egg run underneath to cook all of the egg. As soon as the new egg is cooked on the bottom, flip the egg. Add your chosen ingredients to half of the omelette. Flip the omelet over in half and add some garnishes to the top. Viola, you have a omelet.

Another iconic element of my dad's famous omelets is that he always lines up all of our plates and garnishes them with fruit. 

hot and fresh

hot and fresh, right out of the oven, glazed, and eaten warm with the accompaniment of coffee. there a few things better to experience in a kitchen than this. in the Sauder household we are a big fan of sleeping in, brunches, and dad's famous omelettes. this past saturday we did just that. it was a full house as my brother and his family were visiting. a few of us, those considered the 'early risers' at 9am, were chatting over coffee waiting for the rest of the family to wake up. we needed a little pre-brunch appetizer, so i decided to make some scones. i had just made them earlier in the week for an event and i was wanting to make them again to eat them fresh. turns out the proverb is right, the early bird does get the the worm. or in this case cinnamon scones hot and fresh, right out of the oven, glazed, and eaten warm with the accompaniment of coffee.

stay tuned for next weeks post on my dad's famous omelettes 

Cinnamon Sugar Scones
Adapted from:  12 Tomatoes 

Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsalted butter, frozen and grated
2/3 cup heavy cream or buttermilk
1/3 cup sugar, plus additional for sprinkling on top
2 eggs, divided
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon cinnamon, plus additional for sprinkling on top
Glaze:
1/2 cup powdered sugar
3 tablespoons milk
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400.
2. Whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, and salt.  
3. Add grated butter to the flour mixture and use a pastry cutter or two forks ton incorporate. 
4. In a small bowl whisk together 1 egg, heavy cream, and vanilla extract.
5. Pour wet ingredients into the flour mixture. Mix until a rough dough comes together, then gently kneed into a 8-inch circle.
6. Transfer to a parchment lined baking sheet. Cut dough (like a pie) into 12 pieces.
7. Brush dough with remaining egg and generously sprinkle with cinammon sugar.
9. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until lightly golden and cooked through.
10. Remove from oven and let cool 10 minutes before serving. Re-cut scones. Mix glaze together and drizzle across the top.

because...

...there is nothing better than the sweet taste of freedom. because ever celebration is a reason to eat cookies. because, let's be honest what is better than cookies and milk? because, let's be really honest what is better than peanut butter and chocolate? here's to another school year done. here's to 1.5 years of school left to go. here's to thank goodness for summer break. happy summer, cheers!


Peanut Butter & Nutella Cookies
Yields: 3.5 dozen cookies
 Adapted From: The Sisters' Cafe

Ingredients:
1 cup butter (2 sticks) room temperature
⅔ cup peanut butter
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
2⅔ cup flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
heaping ⅓ cup Nutella

Directions:
1. Cream butter, peanut butter, sugar, brown sugar, eggs and vanilla together until smooth.
2. Combine flour, baking soda and salt and add to butter mixture.
3. Add Nutella in dollops over the top of the dough.
4. Use a butter knife to swirl the Nutella through the dough.  Do not over mix.
5. Chill the dough in fridge for 15 minutes before spooning onto cookie sheet to firm the nutella.
6. Bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes.  Bake until slightly brown at edges.
7. Let cool a few minutes on cookie sheet before transferring.

leftover cookies? these make amazing ice cream sandwiches as well! spread softened vanilla or chocolate ice cream between to cookies, freeze sandwich until ready to eat.